


the entire universe is in her eyes

by loullee



Series: michelle x shuri [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, High School, Is this an AU?, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-04-17 07:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14184018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loullee/pseuds/loullee
Summary: Shuri's smile hadn't dimmed at all in the years that had passed. It still pulled Michelle off of her feet.Maybe this whole roommate deal won't be so bad after all.





	1. they meet and michelle is a gay nerd

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I have barely written anything ever so this is going to be very mediocre but bear with me because hopefully I'll improve eventually.  
> Also I'm australian so I know absolutely nothing about how american high schools or universities (colleges?) work. Please forgive me. I'm dumb.  
> (And gay)  
> (And also a teenager)  
> (seriously this is going to horrible though)  
> Also if you notice spelling mistakes feel free to point it out, I'm terrible seriously.

Michelle stares out the window of her classroom, mind switched off from the droning of her teacher. Physics is a favourite of hers, but she's a couple of micro aggressions away from hating the teacher and Peter's off with Ned wherever doing whatever with the Avengers. It also doesn't help that she's spent the last 20 minutes trying her best not to think too much about the new exchange student in her class.

The really smart, pretty, confident, almost definitely straight exchange student, Shuri.

She'd joined Midtown the last semester from California while her older brother was off working. And she was... kind of amazing.

And now Michelle has science with Shuri. And now Michelle may fail science, if her overwhelming gay crush doesn't go away soon.

Her attention is brought back to the lesson as the teacher starts calling people's names out to be put in groups for their assessment.

"Cindy and Frank, go sit at that table." He instructs. She's about to zone back out again when her name's called.

"Michelle and Shuri, you sit at the back."

_ohmygodohmygodohmygod_

Trying her best to pick up her things and walk to her table like a normal person, Michelle internally has a very, very small almost panic attack.

 _It'll be fine. I just have to spend the rest of this_ hour long _lesson talking one on one with someone I barely know. Who is also kind of the prettiest person I've ever_ seen. _And is probably way smarter than me. That's totally fine._

Thankfully she makes the short distance without tripping over or looking too panicked. And then she sits down. Next to Shuri. Who also happens to wear perfume that smells like lilies. Michelle's favourite flower. That's just fine.

"Hey Michelle!"

Shuri is smiley as ever which is making it a bit hard for Michelle to breath but she sort of manages to give a coherent greeting.

"Shuri, hey. Cool that we're... in a group together. This project sounds really fun."

(Michelle has not been paying attention to the teacher and so, has no idea what they're meant to be doing.)

Shuri frowns slightly in confusion.

"I mean, studying the effects of friction isn't really my idea of fun, but it's great that one of us is going to enjoy this!"

 _God, she's so nice. And this class is going to be so boring._  
_But her smile is so pretty. At least I have a nice partner._  
_Then again this may kill me. Okay._

They spend the remainder of the lesson planning out when they're going to meet up to work on their assignment, and for the most part Michelle doesn't feel too embarrassed by the entire ordeal.

Also, turns out not only is Shuri definitely really smart, but she also tells the funniest jokes and when she laughs Michelle kinda feels like she's flying. And they've agreed to sit together at lunch.

-

Over the next term as they work together, Michelle slowly falls a little bit in love.

And then they're finished.

And Shuri's leaving to go back to her brother.

(Michelle definitely doesn't cry a little when she finds out.)

At least her friends have finished superheroing for the time being so she has people to gush to about the beautiful girl who had left her heart broken and would never know.


	2. 3 years later

After spending the last hour unpacking their things, Michelle and Peter lounged on his couch, exhausted.

They'd just finished with his room, and Michelle was hiding out to avoid meeting her roommate.

"Heyyyyy Michelle." Peter had managed to avoid getting out of breath courtesy of spidey-powers. She was not as lucky.

"Sshhhhhhhhh, tired."

"You wanna know something cool."

"If it includes you paying for the pizza tonight."

"Nah that's still your turn."

"Ugh fine. What's the cool thing then?"

"Guess."

"Absolutely not."

Peter pouted.

"Fiiine. So I may know something about your roommate."

"Oh my god what?" Her curiousity was piqued.

"Okay, so you know that guy Mr. Black Panther that I met a few times with the Avengers?"

"Yeah, also it's still lame that you call him Mr. Black Panther just so you know."

"Ok so I guess I won't tell you then." Peter said, getting up to walking away. Michelle quickly grabbed him by the arm.

"Oooh no, please tell me. I'll buy two pizzas."

"Ok fine. So he has this little sister who's our age right? And she was thinking about going to the same college as us but she was nervous or something because she doesn't know anyone here, so I was like 'hey I already have a roommate, but I'm friends with this girl Michelle, maybe she could room with her' and they were like 'ok cool' so she's your roommate I guess."

"..."

"What?"

"You waited until now to tell me this?"

"Um, yes I may have forgotten completely until now but at least you have a chance to be slightly prepared I guess. Also she's kind of a literal Princess."

Before Michelle had the chance to yell at him, Ned walked in, arms full up with boxes.

"Hey babe." Ned says as Peter walks over to help.

"Ok, so I'm leaving before the PDA starts." Peter pokes out his tongue at her as Ned laughs.

"I guess I'll just go and... meet my new roommate. Who also happens to be royalty. Great."

"Bye Michelle." Ned calls as they make their way over to a bunk to organise.

"Bye."

Resigning herself to her fate, Michelle begins the short journey to her dorm, scared out of her mind.

  _God, I hope she likes me._

Opening her door, Michelle steels herself.

_This is going to be fine._

"Hello?" She calls into to the seemingly empty room.

"Hi." A cheerful voice calls from the open bathroom. "I'll be just a second."

Out walks a familiar face that makes Michelle's heart rate pick up.

"Oh my god Michelle?"

"Hey Shuri."

_Totally fine. Oh my goddddd._


	3. *constant mutual heart eyes*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hey maybe this time I'll stick with a consistant tense ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"Oh wow I haven't seen you in so long Michelle!" Shuri stepped forward, reaching out before pausing slightly. "Can I hug you or is that..."

She trailed off awkwardly, waiting for Michelle to answer.

Michelle's brain had short circuited the moment Shuri moved towards her, and it took her a moment before she stretched out to meet the other girl half way.

"You can absolutely hug me." She replied, not giving too much thought to her enthusiastic words (that she would most likely berate herself for later), because Shuri's arms were squeezing her tight and for the first time that day she felt like she could breathe.

"Hi." She murmured against her shoulder, bringing Michelle back to reality as she let go.

"Hey," She replied, before shaking herself to try and sound less breathless. "So I guess you know Peter then?"

"Umm, not exactly but my brother does... sort of." Shuri said.

Having no idea whether or not Shuri knew about the whole superpowers thing, Michelle tried her best to subtly figure it out.

"So do you know about the whole.... spider thing then?" (Mission Failed)

Looking taken aback at the seeming lack of secrecy, Shuri slowly nodded.

"Right. Okay then," The conversation felt like it was dangling off a cliff at this point and Michelle was beyond flustered. "Are you settled in okay then? I already unpacked earlier this morning so I'm done, but if you need help or anything, I'm.. here I guess..."

Rambling awkwardly may not technically be better than silence but it was something. And Shuri at least seemed put at ease by the subject change.

"Actually, I'm all good but I'm pretty hungry. Maybe you could show me around to where food type places here are?" She asked.

"I actually kind of have no idea where anything is, but I'm having pizza with Peter and his boyfriend in about an hour? You could join us if you want?" Michelle looked away, sure the suggestion made too much of an assumption that Shuri would want to eat (and maybe hang out) with her.

"Oh that would be amazing, thank you. I can't believe I'm actually going to meet people today, I thought I would just spend the day hiding in my room to avoid too much embarrassment..."

"What? How would you embarrass yourself? You're like... one of the coolest people I know." Yikes that got a bit to close to her feelings.

"Awwwww, that's so lovely of you. Incorrect, but lovely."

Shuri's smile hadn't dimmed at all in the years that had passed. It still pulled Michelle off of her feet.

Maybe this whole roommate deal won't be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I'll keep this going until they're married, who knows


	4. dinner and a movie with her future wife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While they watch a scary movie at Ned and Peter's place, Shuri notices that Michelle is looking pretty freaked out, so she does her best to comfort her.

At around 6, Michelle and Shuri made they're way over to Peter and Ned's room. The four of them ordered their pizza (and Shuri insisted on paying for her quarter, even though Michelle told her she didn't have to), and were now lounged around the room watching a movie. 

Peter was sprawled across the top bunk, one arm reached down as he absentmindedly played with Ned's hair. Michelle was to Ned's left, curled up on a giant bean bag, and Shuri sat behind her on the bottom bunk in the middle.

Because Ned and Peter were evil, they were watching a horror movie. This was one of their favourite things to do because despite the calm, aloof reputation Michelle had worked very hard to gain for herself, horror movies scared the shit out of her. 

Normally, Michelle would just spend the time curled up in between Ned and Peter, squeezing the life out of some innocent cushion, but with Shuri there tonight she was trying not to embarrass herself, so instead her only safety net was hiding her face behind the soft, weird smelling bean bag.

Shovelling garlic bread into her mouth, Michelle tried her best to remind herself that the movie couldn't actually hurt her when a hand touched her shoulder, sending her jumping back, and letting out a (small) shriek. Peter and Ned glanced over in concern, but seeing that nothing was wrong, they quickly refocused on the movie.

Shuri pulled her hand back, looking guilty. "Sorry Michelle, I was just going to ask if you were alright. You seem kind of tense?" 

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Just.... these types of movies make me nervous, y'know." Michelle took a deep breath, trying hard not to look too shaken.

"Yeah, I get that. Are you okay though? We could go outside for some air if you want?" Michelle had never been more grateful that she knew her.

"That would actually be kind of a lifesaver. Thank you." She whispered.

The two of them walked quietly outside, dangling their legs over the edge of the tiny balcony. The night air was cold without a jacket, but Michelle already felt much calmer.

Shuri leaned her head against the metal railing as she turned to look at Michelle.  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Michelle shook her head. 

"It's not really a big deal. That sort of stuff just scares me a lot. I'm usually fine because I sit with Peter and Ned but... I don't know.. I didn't really want to disturb them tonight? They seemed kind of in their own bubble. I mean, they're in love or whatever and this is their first night living together, so I get it. It was just a bit much I guess."

"Yeah, I get that. I was pretty freaked out during some of that as well. I just didn't want to ruin you guys' night I guess." She shrugged.

"Nah, if you're uncomfortable we'd be fine with changing stuff. Trust me, the three of us would prefer you were enjoying yourself then that we got the first choice." Shuri nodded

. "Okay, if I end up hanging out with you guys again and that's a problem I'll mention it. It wasn't that big of a deal tonight though, I don't mind this type of movie, I just get kinda nervous."

"Okay. By the way, we do this every two weeks, so if you want to, you could join us again? Peter might make you buy the pizza occasionally though, it's this thing we do..." she trailed off, aware of how close she came to rambling. "No pressure though, you totally don't have to if you don't want to."

"Are you kidding me? I'd love that. Thank you. Tonight was really fun, I'd love too." Shuri smiled at her and Michelle was almost happy that horror movies were her worst enemy.

"Okay cool," She said, softly. "Y'know, it's kind of cold out here, we should probably go back inside."

"Okay." As they stood up Shuri nudged her shoulder against Michelle's, and then held out her hand. Michelle looked at her in confusion. "In case you get scared again. Michelle nodded slowly, brain trying to make sense of what was happening as she reached over to hold Shuri's outstretched hand. They walked back into the room and saw that Peter had taken over the bottom bunk, using Ned as a pillow as he dozed softly, so they both sat down on the bean bag, leaning against each other.

As Michelle tensed up, watching the screen again, Shuri squeezed her hand gently and whispered to her, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

As she relaxed back against the bed, Michelle thought that maybe they should watch scary movies more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, so if anyone has any other ships that they'd like for me to write about, I would love the suggestions because I have absolutely no idea. Preferably f/f. tysm <3


	5. *dead to the world*

Michelle slowly came to life as her alarm clock beeped softly against her ear. She'd spent the night talking to Ned while Peter off on a solo mission.

Ned always got worried when this happened and it had become a ritual for her to try and keep her friend distracted as well as she could, which was usually fine except she had a test today and had gotten about 2 hours of sleep (and now had the shape of her phone indented into the side of her face from accidentally using it as a pillow).

It was only 8, so she still had a couple of hours to wake up more and get ready, however, Michelle was as close to dead to the world as she'd ever gotten, and the idea of getting out of bed sounded awful. Thankfully Shuri had left earlier that morning to catch a flight to see her brother, so she wasn't present to see how much of a mess she was.

Remembering that, Michelle realised that her long, late night call might not have been the most considerate thing to do when her roommate had an early flight, causing one of Michelle's common early morning freakouts and she was immediately sure that Shuri would never want to speak to her again and was probably organising to switch rooms while she waited for her plane.

In an attempt to avoid a complete downward spiral, Michelle was pulling off the covers of her bed to get up when she noticed a note sticky-taped above her head.

_Oh god, she's probably written me this note so she doesn't have to tell me in person how awful I am,_ she thought to herself, sure of the worst.

Michelle hesitantly pulled it down to read it as she made her way to open the blinds.

_Hey Michelle,_

_You weren't awake yet when I had to leave but I wanted to tell you good luck on your test!!!!! You're going to do amazing!!!! And even if you don't that isn't a measure of you as a person because you're valid and amazing no matter what your grades!!!!!!! And you're going to do great anyway so try not to stress too much!!!!_

_Also, I made you a coffee, it's on the sink in the thermos, I made it kinda strong since you didn't get much sleep last night._

_See you soon,_

_Love Shuri_

_P.S. you should take phone calls every night, for my sake - your voice is super relaxing_

_remember you're going to do great on that test_

_bye for now I guess_

Michelle made her way across the room to the small kitchenette to grab the thermos as she smiled and reread the letter.

And tried her best not to read too much into the fact that she'd signed it with love.

Because that didn't mean anything. She was just being nice, right?

_Crap, I thought I was over this._

_She's my roommate. And my friend._

_I'm not going to ruin everything because of some dumb crush that I should've gotten over in high school._

Despite whatever conflicting feelings this had brought up, Michelle spent the rest of the day with a small smile on her face.

(and she aced that test.)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so I haven't updated this in like, a week  
> also this is really short  
> however, i am very tired, which i think should be taken into account  
> also i'm going back to school tomorrow so i'll probably be writing more (because why do homework when you could procrastinate)  
> i only really wrote this because i saw black panther again today for my birthday and i wanted to write something that was involved with shuri but it's late and i'm tired so this was really short  
> if it makes it any better, the next one will probably be annoyingly long


	6. aaaaaaahhhh people are confusing and so are their emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oop and here comes the angst

There were only a couple of days until winter break, and Michelle was doing totally fine.

Sure, exams had piled up and her go to strategy during stress was excessive caffeine, which didn’t exactly work wonders for anxiety, but she figured that was a problem for another day. Also combining that all with a bad cold was a bit much, but she had dealt with it, it was fine.

And the fact that her roommate had been avoiding her for the past week and Michelle couldn’t think of what she’d done to cause it was also fine and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she was currently sobbing on Peter’s couch. Because it was fine. She was fine.

Michelle watched as Peter walked over to her, holding two cups of tea and a copy of Steele Magnolias under his arm, and choked out a small laugh through quick unsteady breaths. “Really? I thought you were all ‘it’s important to talk about your feelings’– we usually watch that _after_ we’ve had a good long conversation about whatever’s causing today’s breakdown?” She asked, used to Peter’s insistence on ‘healthy coping mechanisms’.

“And it was my plan that we could talk about… this… afterwards. Ned’s out right now and he’s usually better at the talking part than me anyway, and besides you seem like you need a distraction in the meantime.” He replied, handing her the tea and taking a seat next to her. “Unless you want to talk now though, whatever you want to do.”

Michelle took a deep breath as she sorted through her emotions. She really needed to talk to someone. _Soon._ But she knew once she said it out loud it was either going to sound way more ridiculous than it did in her head, or it was going to turn out to be even worse than she’d realised. But god she really just needed to get it _out of her head_ , because that wasn’t the way to deal with anything. And she wasn’t exactly in peak condition to be able to tell how much she should actually be worrying. Peter stayed silent as he waited for her to decide.

“...So, I think I’ve messed up. And I don’t know what I did wrong. But I’m pretty sure it’s really bad.” Her voice broke on the last word as sobs took over her body again.

“Woah, Michelle–are you–is it okay if I hug you?” Michelle gave a small nod through her tears. “Okay. Don’t worry, whatever’s going on I’ll help you figure it out. Please just breathe, okay?”

Michelle curled up against the side of the couch as Peter put his arm around her shoulders, sitting in silence as she tried her best to regulate her breathing.

_In for 5, hold for 3, out for 7. In for 5, hold for 3, out for 7. In for 5, hold for 3, out for 7._

She repeated it in her head over and over until she started to feel more stable.

“I think I’m ready to talk about it now.” She croaked out, her throat already painful from a sore throat, before the near hyperventilation.

“Okay, just take your time.” Peter tightened his arm around her shoulder’s, knowing from their years of friendship that it usually helped to ground her.

Michelle took another deep breath. “It’s Shuri. She’s been… avoiding me lately? And on the rare occasion that we actually _have_ to be in the same room, she barely talks to me. She barely even looks at me. Do you think…… maybe she figured out how I… feel… about her. I don’t know how, but that’s the only thing I can think of that would explain everything.

What if she hates me now?”

“Oh my god, Michelle, no. Believe me. She doesn’t hate you, I promise.”

“How do you know that though?” She asked, desperate for Peter to have all of the answers, but secretly sure she’d broken something irreparably and not even realised.

“Okay, first of all, we’ve spent several evenings with you and Shuri for the past few months, and to be honest I was like, nearly jealous of how well you two got along. Trust me, even if she doesn’t feel the same way as you do, she definitely values you as a friend, I really doubt she’d freeze you out. Secondly, there isn’t any reason to think she definitely found out that you… like her? Are you thinking this is more than just like at this point? Actually, that doesn’t matter–although we definitely have to get back to that later–she could be acting like this for a million different reasons. Maybe something’s going on with her brother, he is a king, I’m sure that gets stressful. She could be studying, you know how hard she works. Maybe she’s trying to give you space while you work through your caffeine spree–and yes, we have _all_ noticed that by the way, please try and get some sleep it’s really not good for you…… and yep I’ve forgotten where I was going with that point, but have I convinced you yet that this’ll all work out?”

Michelle sighed. “Probably the most you can. And you’re right, this could be anything I guess.

And yeah… at this point, I’d probably describe it as more than just like.”

“Well, shit.”

“Yup basically. Can we please just watch Steele Magnolias now so I can get through my wallowing before I have to go back to packing for the holidays?”

“Absolutely.” Peter jumped up to set up the movie and get some blankets.

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon with a combination of crying and analysing the _excessive_ gay subtext and fell asleep until Ned came home later that evening.

Ned, who had just spent _his_ afternoon sitting in the library with Shuri as she told him about the recent intense feelings that she had been having, and how to deal with them better than trying to ignore them, and the _source_ of said feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also holy shit i actually proofread this, god i love out of the blue productivity me, she's so much better at actually doing things than i am


	7. wow

Michelle slumped against the back wall of her dorm room, scowling a hole in the floor in front of her as she tried to talk her brain into letting her be brave for a little while.

She was leaving for home in a few hours, and after a night of no sleep and lots of stress, she had come to the conclusion that she had to tell Shuri the truth about how she felt. If it really was the reason that things had been so uncomfortable between them, then it couldn't hurt to get it out in the open. And if it turned out that Shuri didn't know, then at least she had a chance to tell her, whatever the consequences turned out to be.

She tugged violently at a loose string of material from their carpet and listened as a key turned in the lock of their door.

_I can do this._

Pushing herself up off the ground, Michelle watched as Shuri pulled a small suitcase towards her bed and began packing a pile of laundry and souvenirs into it.

"Hey, Shuri? Could we talk?" She asked, clearing her throat and twisting her hands together.

Shuri frowned as she took in her friend's serious expression and nodded. "Of course, Michelle. Are you okay?"

"Definitely! I just wanted to talk about something," she paused, gathering her courage. "About us. And why things have been weird lately. I'm pretty sure I know why, and I really don't want to leave things like that."

Shuri nodded, keeping her eyes glued to the clothes in her hands.

"Okay then. It just seemed like maybe you were avoiding me? And I'm pretty sure it's because of some feelings... that are unreciprocated... and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making you uncomfortable or anything."

Shuri nodded again, still refusing to make eye contact. 

_So, she did know then._

"You didn't make me uncomfortable," She said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice as she zipped the bag closed. "I should really be the one saying that to you though."

Michelle frowned. "You don't ever need to worry about that! You feel the way you feel. That's just how it is."

"I know. And I'm glad we talked about this. I should go, though. To catch my flight." She finally looked back at Michelle, but the expression on her face was pained.

"Yeah, okay. I guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks then." Michelle tried for a smile, but Shuri only nodded once more and made her way towards the door.

It felt wrong. Like something had been left unresolved. 

"Just for the record," She called out, determined to explain herself properly before they were a thousand miles apart. "I am really sorry that I messed everything up with my... feelings. I didn't mean to get fall for you. And I really don't want this to ruin our friendship. Because you're a really good friend."

Shuri's hand slipped off the doorknob, and she turned around slowly, looking confused. "What did you say?"

Michelle racked her brain, wondering what she had messed up. "I... I'm sorry? And you're a good friend?"

"But what was the bit in the middle?"

Shuri had begun to walk towards her, eyes searching Michelle's face, apprehensive.

"You mean the whole... me having feelings for you... thing?"

They were only centimetres apart, and Michelle struggled to think clearly as she noticed Shuri's perfume.

"And that's what you were talking about before?" Michelle nodded. "Okay... I wasn't though."

This didn't make sense. What else could she be talking about?

"Can I kiss you, Michelle?" She asked, voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

_Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat._

Michelle nodded quickly, and let her eyes fall closed as Shuri leaned closer and placed a hand on her cheek, before gently pressing their lips together.

It wasn't particularly elegant or well executed, but Michelle felt like her skin was on fire as their breaths mixed together.

After a moment, Shuri pulled back, eyes wide, before she quickly made her way to the door, turning back one last time to say "I'll call you when I get home. Bye," before she walked out, with a shy smile.

Michelle stood frozen, trying to wrap her mind around what had happened, before dropping onto her bed, as a disbelieving smile took over her face.

_Well. Okay then._

_She kissed me._

_Okay._

_Wow._


	8. !thestressisreal!

As she sat on the floor of Peter and Ned's room, slumped against their couch, Michelle felt a rush of déjàvu from the last time she'd spent her morning hiding there, nervous to see her roommate.

Technically,  _Shuri_ had kissed her, but that fact didn't help to ease the butterflies in her stomach. It had been three weeks. Maybe she didn't feel the same anymore.

Michelle turned to where Peter and Ned lay strewn across the couch, opening her mouth to ask their opinion when Ned cut her off. "Yes, she still likes you, no I don't think she's met the love of her life back in Wakanda, and yes, I do wish you'd hurry up and go talk to her because you're making me stressed," he said, softening as he saw how panicked she looked. "Michelle, I don't know how you haven't noticed, but you're pretty great, you don't have to be so worried about this. You're going to need to see her eventually, and besides, the sooner you get to it, the sooner she might kiss you again!" Peter nodded as Michelle dropped her head into her hands. "You've been pining for weeks! I can't deal with this tension anymore! You know I worry!"

Michelle rolled her eyes, embarrassed. "Firstly, you're only this confident because you and Peter are basically married, so you don't have to worry about this sort of thing anymore, and secondly... I'm scared and I don't want to go, so please, as my friend, enable me. I beg of you."

Peter huffed affectionately and disentangled himself from Ned, moving to sit in front of her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You can do this. You just need to talk to her."

"I know!" she exclaimed. "I know I just need to get over myself and do it, it's just... I don't know how to be enough? I really don't want to mess this up. She's so... I don't even know. I don't get why she'd ever want this. With me."

Peter sighed, dropping his hand from her shoulder to hold hers. "I get it," he said, glancing at Ned, knowing Michelle would remember the months she'd spent trying to convince him that Ned wouldn't be horrified about how infatuated he'd been. "You're more than enough, Michelle. And besides, she's already your friend, so you know she already likes you for you. You just need to give it a chance, okay?"

She took a deep breath, still afraid, but determined now. "Okay."

Ned and Peter cheered as she stood up, yelling words of encouragement as she walked to the door.

Michelle looked back, seeing them both smiling at her, Peter giving her a thumbs up, and tried her best to trust their confidence.

_Okay._


	9. she's messy but we love her

Michelle stood with a shaking hand hovering over the door handle of her dorm. She'd been there for a minute already, but she was no closer to opening it than she was when she arrived.

 _Shuri kissed me._ Shuri  _kissed_ me.  _I don't need to be so freaked out._

As she stood there debating with herself, she missed the sound of someone dragging a suitcase up the stairs behind her. 

"Michelle?"

Startled out of zoning out, she turned quickly to see Shuri behind her, holding up a key. "Are you locked out?"

Blinking, Michelle nodded. That was slightly less embarassing than lurking at least. 

Stepping to the side, Michelle watched as Shuri unlocked the door.

_She's so calm. How is she so calm?_

They stepped inside, and Michelle hesitated at the doorway. "So, about what happened..."

Shuri paused. "About that..." 

They'd only spoken once since it happened, just after Shuri hand landed back in Wakanda, and it had been stilted and awkward.

_She regrets it._

Michelle went to sit on her bunk on the other side of the room, fighting the urge to hide, as she prepared for Shuri to break it to her, faking a casual smile.

"I'm really sorry."

Michelle nodded, watching as Shuri's gaze dropped, hating the dejected look on her face, hating that she'd put it there. "I don't expect anything from you," she said hurriedly, wincing at how loud she was. "And if you don't want to talk about it, if you want me to just... ignore it, I will."

Shuri looked at her again, her expression fragile. "Is that what you want?"

_Lie._

Michelle stared at her hands, wanting to escape. She shook her head. "I want you," she whispered, torn between embarrassment at how much she was revealing and fear that she was wrecking everything.

She looked up to see Shuri staring at her, silent, with a small, vulnerable smile.

"I want you too," she said.

Michelle inhaled sharply, glancing to the side and shaking her head slightly. "Are you sure?"

Shuri got up, walking over and entwining her hands with Michelle's. "So sure," she whispered.

Michelle sighed softly, closing her eyes for a moment before she felt Shuri place her hand against her jaw.

"Are you okay?"

Michelle nodded. "Yeah."

Opening her eyes, she looked back at Shuri, leaning forward slightly, giving her room to move away if she wanted. She didn't. 

Smiling, she leaned in, closing her eyes, Shuri's soft lips pressing against hers. She pulled back quickly, revelling in the glow of Shuri's soft smile and still-closed eyes, when she remembered her luggage. 

"Do you feel like pizza tonight?" she asked.

Shuri opened her eyes, looking skeptical. "You left your stuff at Peter and Ned's, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," Michelle said sheepishly.

Shuri grabbed her hand and stood up, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "I would love a pizza."


	10. the end

Warmth spilled over her cheeks as Michelle stood at the open door of her friends' apartment, watching as Ned and Peter did a once over of her and Shuri's joined hands, everyone giving quick nods accompanied by barely suppressed grins. Shuri pulled away as they walked inside, already pulled into a hug by Ned as he asked her about her holiday and how her flight was, and Michelle could almost ignore thee love sick, contented smile that crept onto her face as she watched them talk.

Bumping their shoulders together, Peter gave her a sly smile, quickly dissolving into laughter as she shoved him aside to get to the bottom bunk, both dropping onto it at the same time, and Michelle gave him a quiet smile.

"So you have a girlfriend now?" He watched in silence as her smile grew. "Oh man, you are  _so smitten."_

Michelle shoved him softly in the arm and looked away, catching Shuri's eye and sharing a smile with her. Michelle looked down at her lap, shaking her head around another smile before turning back o Peter. "I have a girlfriend," she whispered secretively, as Peter huffed a laugh.

"Yeah, I think we covered that already," he said, resting their shoulders together. "I'm really happy for you," he said.

"I'm really happy."

Ned and Shuri made their way over, dropping onto bottom bunk and the bean bag respectively, and Michelle let a groan out as Ned turned on Netflix, going straight to the horror movie section. "Why do you guys do this to me." she huffed, dropping her head into her hands, and listening as the boys beside her stifled their laughs.

Feeling a hand on her arm, she looked up to see Shuri giving her a gentle smile.

"You know, there's room enough for two people on this bean bag," she said, patting the space beside her and watching as Michelle slid down next to her.

Tensing up as there options for the night skimmed across the screen, Michelle felt an arm wrap around her waist. "Don't worry," Shuri whispered, smile audible. "I'll protect you."


End file.
